Colds and flu sort of come with the territory of being in the middle of winter in Michigan. And probably most places for that matter.
We are so sun deprived here, that a few months into fall/winter everyone is so vitamin D deficient, holiday overloaded, and schedule crazed, that at some point – crash.
I keep my family pretty bulked up on vitamin D, but coming in contact with winter bugs is just inevitable – we don’t live in a bubble!
A couple years ago, my oldest (now 4 ½ years old) got her first cold. I wanted to listen to her body and not fight it if she didn’t want to eat, but I knew she needed to keep hydrated, and keep electrolytes balanced. She would take some bone broth in a sippy – but not all day. I freaked out over the labels I read in the pediatric “Gatorade” isle, and just decided to make my own.
All I wanted was a little carbohydrate for energy (raw honey), a little electrolyte balance (minerals in sea salt), some water for flushing out the bugs, and I decided on adding lemons for their cleansing effect on the body. What turned out was a great lemonade type “Gatorade” electrolyte drink (without all the junk!) that I have been using when my family gets sick.
If the babes aren’t wanting to drink, or are nauseated, freeze it up into popsicles! The frozen popsicles
also work great on scratchy sore throats. Add a quality probiotic
to boost the immune system in there too!
- 6 ½ cups of filtered water
- 3 TB raw honey
- ½ – ¾ tsp sea salt
- 3-4 lemons, juiced
- Warm the water over the stove and turn off the heat just before it starts to simmer.
- Add the raw honey and sea salt to the warm water and stir to dissolve. Raw honey has many health benefits of it’s own so don’t simmer or boil the honey!
- Add the juice of 3-4 lemons to taste.
- Pour the mixture into jars and store in the fridge, or popsicle molds and into the freezer.
Kitchen Tips:
- This makes 2 quarts of drink. Double it if you need more, or half it if you don’t need as much! It makes quite a few popsicles too!
- Read THIS about the benefits of raw honey.
- If your kids don’t care for lemon flavor, use a few TB of organic apple juice instead of the lemon juice. Lemons have great cleansing properties and my girls love the flavor so that is what I choose to use!
- Try getting bone broth down the kids while ill too – it is a great source of minerals and nourishment! Even some simple soups like pea soup, veggie soup, chicken noodle soup, or French onion soup are favorites here while recovering from illness.
- Get quality probiotics to add into your drink HERE
- Get popsicle molds HERE
- Need more cold and flu nourishment ideas? Try this Immune Booster Smoothie, Lemonade Creamsicle, and Nourishing Smoothie.
YOUR TURN!
Have you had a round or two of colds this winter yet?
I’m pregnant (8 weeks) and have been fighting off a nasty cold I got from my husband. Can’t wait for us both to try this and hopefully start feeling better soon since I’m trying to avoid every type of medication until I’m out of the first trimester!
I hope you feel better soon Sophia! And congrats on that sweet babe!
I’ve been fighting a cold for 2 weeks. I’ll be making this in an hour. Thanks for the recipe.
Aww Sarah – hope you feel better soon!
Love this! I’ve always found the idea of Gatorade kinda sketchy, drinking an unnatural blue liquid with a laundry list of unpronounceable ingredients. Thanks for posting!
No kidding!
Glad I found this idea. I’m pregnant so my options of medicines are limited. I’m also a strange soul and do not like warm drinks at all so I can’t do the honey tea thing. I will definitely need to try this
Perfect Kimberley! And congrats on the sweet babe!